Former Penn State wrestler and three-time NCAA Champion Bo Nickal won another fight in the octagon by stoppage in round two at 3:38 after he defeated Cody Brundage to kick off the monumental UFC 300 main card.

Nickal, now 6-0 in the UFC, has won all of his fights by either knockout or submission, and his fight against Brundage is the first time the Nittany Lion has ever seen action past the first round.

How It Happened

After walking out to a rendition of the Penn State classic “Kernkraft 400,” Nickal calmly stepped into the octagon as one of the biggest favorites in UFC history, reaching odds up to -3000 to win over Brundage.

Despite both men coming from accomplished wrestling backgrounds, Nickal wasted no time to challenge Brundage on the ground with an early series of takedown attempts mixed in with various punches and kicks. Nickal then had control of Brundage pressed up onto the wall of the octagon, using the cage to his advantage and securing a takedown on Brundage.

Despite rotating through various mounts and positions, even on one occasion finding himself in a full top mount, Nickal couldn’t secure any submissions on general offense in the ground position. However, he effectively won the first round with over two minutes of ground control.

Moving into the second round, Nickal continued the offensive pressure with another strong takedown attempt after nothing would connect for either wrestler on their feet. This time, though, as Nickal took the back of Brundage, he slipped his forearm under the chin of his opponent to quickly induce a tap from Brundage to win the match and improve his record to 6-0 in his young career.

Overall, Nickal landed 76% of his total strikes (45-of-59) and 50% of his takedown attempts (three-of-six) with a total of 7:25 seconds of control time in just over 8:30 total time fought.

What’s Next?

In Nickal’s post-fight press conference, the former Hodge Trophy winner was disappointed in his performance against Brundage. Nonetheless, Nickal welcomed all challengers in response to questions about his next fight, as long as they are a “better guy.”

However, with over nine months in between Nickal’s last two fights, his next booking isn’t expected soon.